*
A faint light barely illuminated the room, which was filled with unpleasant humidity and stuffy air.
In the center of the dark room, a man was hanging, bound in chains.
Each time black smoke rose from the man's body, the chains glowed, suppressing his power.
The man was slumped over, seemingly unconscious.
"So, he used the same power as this guy?"
"Yes. It's the same power as the man I met at the bank."
Yoon Seung-ah began poking the slumped man with a rod engraved with special patterns.
She was a small, seemingly cheerful girl with pigtails and blonde hair, wearing a black robe that didn't suit the weather, reaching below her knees.
Inside the robe, she wore a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, revealing her slender, long legs and arms.
It was specially treated to stay cool even in summer, but to others, it was incomprehensible clothing.
"So, he's one of the main culprits who attacked the Academy this time?"
Yoon Seung-ah, who usually wore a playful expression, was now filled with murderous intent. It was almost as if her eyes were shining with a fierce light.
Just thinking that he was one of the crazy bastards who dared to attack the Academy where her daughter was enrolled made her want to kill him immediately.
"That's the assumption. He's a student enrolled in the Academy, named Hong Ryu-seok."
Lee Jia, dressed in a black assassin's outfit, nodded.
Her face was always half-covered by a black mask, and the eyes revealed above the mask looked as sharp as blades.
Lee Jia handed Yoon Seung-ah the information she had gathered about Hong Ryu-seok.
The Gate located in the headmaster's office was blown away by the bomb Kim Si-woo set off, but the operation had already begun.
The prepared personnel attacked the Academy, but the most important Cult Leader and executives couldn't cross over, leaving them isolated.
They had planned to strengthen the cult members by filling the surroundings with Mana through the Cult Leader's special power, but the Gate's explosion turned that plan into smoke.
In the end, the cult members who had moved first for the operation were helplessly defeated by the Academy's instructors and professors and were all captured.
To obtain information from Hong Ryu-seok, the student who had caused the biggest commotion in the main building before the incident occurred, he was transferred to the Death God Guild.
"Hmm... he's really nothing special, but his energy is no joke?"
When he was first discovered, he had no legs, but black Mana bubbled and his legs slowly regenerated.
"He won't die easily, will he?"
With that level of regeneration, he wouldn't die even if a part of his body was cut off.
"Isn't torture prohibited?"
Excessive torture was prohibited by human rights groups and international organizations.
That didn't mean torture had disappeared, but there was nothing to gain from the fact that a large corporation-type guild like the Death God Guild was known to have tortured someone.
"But he's not human, is he? How can a human use Mana?"
Yoon Seung-ah used telekinesis to lift a jackknife.
The knives that started as one soon continued to increase, and dozens of blades began to move in a circle around Yoon Seung-ah.
"Still, he's a student of the Korean Academy."
"Does that matter? This guy is just a Villain."
Not just any Villain, but a heinous Villain who attacked the Korean Academy. With this level of Villain, she wouldn't be held responsible even if she killed him according to the Hunter Association's law.
"You know that it's different when he's captured."
Yoon Seung-ah looked at Lee Jia with a playful smile.
"Why, do you perhaps like this guy?"
"...I'll get angry."
Lee Jia, who rarely showed emotion, glared at Yoon Seung-ah with a truly angry expression.
"I was just kidding. Why are you so serious?"
"It's not funny at all. Please don't do that again."
"Okay, I won't kill him, so don't worry."
"You said the same thing about Kim Jin-pung, who you captured last time."
Lee Jia didn't care whether Hong Ryu-seok was tortured or not. She was just worried about Yoon Seung-ah interrogating him.
If Yoon Seung-ah, who was ruthless to Villains, interrogated him, there was a high possibility that Hong Ryu-seok would die.
The Death God Guild was in charge of the interrogation for now, but with everyone's attention focused on it, what if Hong Ryu-seok died here?
That would be very troublesome.
"I'll do it. Shouldn't Master rest comfortably?"
"No way! How can you tell me to just leave when this looks so fun!"
"Ugh..ugh.."
Hearing the two of them bickering, Hong Ryu-seok regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He tried to move his arms and legs, but he was bound by strange chains and couldn't move at all.
Hong Ryu-seok, looking around in a flustered expression, discovered Lee Jia and Yoon Seung-ah.
"Wh..who are you?"
"..."
Seeing the two people staring at him without a word, an inexplicable fear arose.
"Wh..who are you!!! What is this!! Let me go!!! Do you know who I am!!!"
He shouted and threatened to show that he wasn't scared, but it was meaningless to Yoon Seung-ah and Lee Jia.
"Do you guys know who I am!!! Do you know what will happen if you keep me locked up like this!!"
The Reverse Heaven Church, which had approached Hong Ryu-seok, had clearly promised him a position as an executive. So, they would definitely come to save him.
"Is he out of his mind?"
"It seems so."
Lee Jia and Yoon Seung-ah wore dumbfounded expressions as they saw him confidently shouting in front of them.
"You! There, you short bitch!! If you just let me go, I'll kill you!!"
"..."
"Master! Please calm down!"
Yoon Seung-ah's forehead wrinkled at the words "short bitch." Yoon Seung-ah's body floated upwards due to telekinesis.
"Wh..wh..what.. th..then.. who.. who would be scared of that!!!"
The moment the hood of Yoon Seung-ah's robe covered her face, the inside of the robe became invisible as if some strange power was at work.
A huge scythe was already in the hand of Yoon Seung-ah, who was covered in a large robe and flying in the sky.
"It would be a problem if you killed him!!"
"D..Death God?"
That day, Hong Ryu-seok's screams echoed for a long time in the basement of the Death God Guild.
*
"Are you awake?"
I turned my head at the familiar voice and saw Kang Min-ah. She approached me with a worried expression, touching my face to check my condition.
"Where is this?"
"It's the Korean Hunter Hospital."
When I opened my eyes, I was in a hospital room. Kang Min-ah, with a slightly tired face, was sitting next to me.
She was wearing her usual office look, but her slightly wrinkled shirt and skirt gave the impression that she had been by my side for quite some time.
A IV drip that looked like a high-end Potion was connected to my wrist, and a device displaying my heart rate was beeping regularly next to me.
It felt like a luxurious single-person hospital room.
Hospitals that specialize in treating Hunters. Most injuries can usually be treated with Potions and recovery, but even recovery skills have their limits.
In the case of injuries that cannot be treated at once, Hunters also had to receive treatment like this.
"Can you see well? How many fingers do you see right now?"
She held up two fingers in front of my eyes and shook them from side to side.
"Stop it, it's making me dizzy."
"Do you remember how you collapsed?"
"I don't know."
I couldn't say that I fought that lancer, so it was right to say I didn't know. The Dark Hero transformation set was quietly sleeping in my inventory.
"Are you hungry?"
"Not yet."
"They said you should eat porridge until your condition recovers, so keep that in mind."
Still, perhaps because my favorability had increased, Kang Min-ah seemed to be worried about me.
I tried to get up from the bed, but I felt a strong sense of powerlessness.
"Just lie still. Your condition was really serious when you were first found."
'Did I overdo it after all?'
When I opened the skill window, the skill I used to defeat that lancer caught my eye.
[ Overclock: LV2
You can temporarily break through your limits by using powerful force.
The longer you use power beyond your limits, the stronger the backlash on your body, and your stats will temporarily decrease after use.
- All stats are reduced by 50%. ]
'It dropped by 50%?'
It was definitely a skill with a big risk as much as its effect. I should refrain from using it unless it's a really dangerous situation.
"So, what happened? Hong Ryu-seok, that bastard?"
"If you mean Hong Ryu-seok, the Death God Guild took him away. Are you really okay?"
I guess he fell from the 5th floor and survived just fine.
"Tell me what happened."
I was able to hear about the events that occurred at the Academy from Min-ah. It seemed that everyone was subdued by the instructors and faculty because the Cult Leader couldn't cross over.
There were some casualties, but fortunately, all of our kids seemed to be safe.
"Were you by my side the whole time?"
"N..no, it's not like that."
"Min-ah, come over here."
"What's wrong?"
I kept tapping the side of the bed without saying a word, and Min-ah walked over with a subtle expression. As she stood next to the bed, Min-ah's butt was in a perfect position to reach out and touch.
"Thank you."
"Wh..what are you doing!"
Min-ah reacted with a start when I patted her butt. But it was cute that she didn't avoid my hand.
"Th..this is a hospital room, so don't think about weird things."
I wonder if she's still wearing it today?
When I activated the plug in my inventory, Kang Min-ah's expression darkened rapidly.
"Wh..what are you doing in a ho..hospital room!"
"You didn't forget and you're wearing it well, huh?"
"Haa..."
She flinched and reacted violently to my light caress.
[ Incubus Pheromone: Kang Min-ah is addicted. ]
I didn't know at first, but it seems she's addicted to the pheromones since we've been together for so long.
It was just a light touch, but her face gradually turned red and her breathing began to become rough.
"D..don't think about anything strange."
"What were you thinking about?"